New guidelines call for extending tamoxifen for 10 years

Joanne Mortimer, MD, Director of the Women's
Cancers Program at City of Hope Comprehensive
Cancer Center, Duarte, California

CANCER DIGEST – June 5, 2014 – An expert panel at the American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) meeting last week announced new guidelines for adding endocrine (hormone) therapies such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors for post menopausal women with hormone receptor positive breast cancer. Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) include Exemestane (Aromasin^®), Letrozole (Femara^®), and Anastrozole (Arimidex^®). 

Following breast cancer treatment, the panel recommends that:

• Postmenopausal patients should be offered continued tamoxifen for a total duration of 10 years or an AI for a total duration of up to 10 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy.
• Postmenopausal women should be offered added endocrine therapy with one of the following options: tamoxifen for 10 years; or an AI for 5 years; tamoxifen for 5 years, then switching to an AI for up to 5 years; or tamoxifen for 2-3 years and switching to an AI for up to 5 years.
• Women who are postmenopausal and are intolerant of either tamoxifen or an AI should be offered the alternative type of adjuvant endocrine therapy.

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